T5303

Farmers Markets

Flowers and Honey

Collins Cover Announcement

Farmers Markets

Flowers and Honey

Just as Dad had his vegetables and fruits, so did Mom have her beds and gardens of multi-colored flowers. Zinnias were her personal favorite, but from the small marigolds and pansies in the beds around the house foundation to the towering sunflowers by the horse barn, Mom always took pride that, from early spring until the first frost, Collins Ponds didn't lack for color.

In later years, Dad's retirement business was raising and selling fancy daylilies, and local garden clubs used to come and tour the property to see Mom's many varieties and especially Dad's multi-colored expanses of lilies. I always had an appreciation for what my parents were able to produce from the good earth but only now, in my later years, do I really contemplate and consider the amount of time, effort, and talent they put forth year after year to achieve the results they did.

My individually hand painted cachet is a colorful one depicting a farmer hoeing his well-tended bed. Adding interest to the cover is a bee hive with tall foxgloves growing behind it. Honey, the only non-perishable food, is prominent in the foreground.

As a tribute to Mom I show the hand trowel that would so often be in her hand as well as the familiar old rugged metal watering can (not the modern plastic one made in some distant land) that every home from that era seemed to have. In the can is a special remembrance bouquet — the beloved zinnias from days bone by and a few sunflowers freshly cut from the plants out by the old red barn.

The third cover in the set — Flowers and Honey — is now ready. Collins #T5303 at $15.00